Method and Apparatus for Providing Economic Analysis of Power Generation and Distribution

ABSTRACT

An economic dispatch program optimally allocates load demand specifying real power and reactive power to be generated by a power plant among various power generators in a manner so that each of the power generators are operated within its optimal operating space as defined by a reactive capability curve. Allocating a power demand with consideration of the reactive capability curves of the power generators results in optimal generation of real power and reactive power as specified by the load demand. Alternatively, the economic dispatch program allocates load demand specifying real power and reactive power to be delivered by a power grid among various power plants wherein one or more of the various power plants have capacity limits exhibited by reactive capability curves.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This patent relates generally to computer software, and more particularly to computer software used in electric power generation and distribution systems.

BACKGROUND

Almost every aspect of life in the twenty-first century involves the use of electric power. However, most users of electricity do not realize that, before electricity reaches their premises, it travels through a complex network of electric power generation and distribution systems. The complexity of power generation and distribution is frequently underscored by blackouts, such as those that occurred over most of the northeastern United States and Canada on Aug. 14, and 15, 2003, which make it clear that the various processes and systems involved in the generation and the distribution of electricity require very careful planning.

In the United States, electric power generation and distribution was traditionally highly regulated by federal government agencies, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC), as well as by utility commissioners of various states. These regulating bodies set performance standards and requirements for the generation and the distribution of electric power for the utility companies (hereinafter referred to as “utilities”) which generated and distributed electric power. For example, these regulating bodies specified the requirements for real power at various points on the electric distribution systems. In response to the specified requirements, the utilities determined how much electricity to produce, where to produce it, and how to distribute it.

Utilities generate electricity using various types of power generators, which may be categorized depending on the energy used to generate electricity, into thermal, nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, etc., generators. Each of these various types of generators operates under different sets of constraints. For example, an output of a thermal generator is a function of the heat generated in a boiler, wherein the heat generated per hour is constrained by the amount of fuel that can be burned per hour. Additionally, the output of the thermal generator may be limited by various environmental regulations that specify the maximum output of certain hazardous gases that can be emitted by the thermal power generator. Similar types of constraints exist with other types of power generating systems.

Once the utilities received the requirements for real power to be delivered, the utilities determined which generation unit to use at what level. In making this determination, the utilities took into consideration the constraints on each of the available power generators. Moreover, to minimize the cost of power generation, the utilities typically tried to find the optimum combination of power generation using any of a number of sophisticated mathematical and forecasting models available for planning the generation of electricity. Specifically, computer programs generally known as economic dispatch programs were available to help utilities make decisions related to the operation of electric generators based on real power requirements.

As is well known, electric power includes both real power, which is given in megawatts (MWs), and reactive power, which is given in mega volt-amperes reactive (MVARs). Because, utilities traditionally received requirements for electric power in real power only, traditional economic dispatch programs determined optimum operating solutions only in terms of real power. As a result, these programs allowed utilities to determine optimal operation of various generators based on a specified real power, but did not take into account the reactive power requirement. However, it is necessary to keep a certain level of reactive power on the electric distribution grids to avoid damage to transformers and other electrical distribution equipments. As a result, utilities still have to generate and distribute at least some reactive power. In the past, because the levels of reactive power were not mandated by the regulators, reactive power levels on grids were maintained mostly based on mutual understandings between various utilities and loosely defined best practices for power generation. Moreover, because the rates charged by utilities for power were traditionally highly regulated, and were generally tied to the cost of producing the electric power, utilities generally did not pay much attention to the cost of generation and delivery of the reactive power, as the utilities could easily pass on the added cost of producing the reactive power to their customers.

However, over the last couple of decades there has been considerable de-regulation and restructuring within the electric power industry of the United States, which has substantially increased competition among utilities and made utilities more aware of their cost structures. In particular, due to increased competition, the utilities can no longer automatically charge their customers higher prices because of higher production costs. As a result, utilities have become more conscious of the costs associated with generating and distributing both real electric power and reactive electric power, and are less likely to provide reactive power to properly maintain distribution grids without being adequately compensated.

In this environment, to maintain the necessary level of reactive power on distribution grids, the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC), a utility industry trade group, has started providing specifications for levels of reactive power to be maintained by utilities. As a result, when a utility is making the determination as to which generator technology to use for generating electricity, the utility has to take into account not only the real power to be produced, but also the reactive power to be produced.

Unfortunately, the task of optimizing the production of both real power and reactive power is highly complex, due to the relationships between the two, and none of the various economic dispatch programs available on the market allows optimizing the production of both real power and reactive power.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a power distribution system;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a power generation plant;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example economic dispatch program used by the power generation plant of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example mathematical solver used by the economic dispatch program of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an electric power plant using thermal power generators;

FIG. 6 illustrates a reactive capability curve of a combustion turbo-generator; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a reactive capability curve of a steam turbine generator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally speaking, an economic dispatch program operates as described herein to allocate a load demand of a power system among various available power generation resources. An example of such an economic dispatch program allocates a load demand of a power plant to various power generators, wherein the load demand specifies the total real power requirements as well as the total reactive power requirements of the power plant. The economic dispatch program may use various capacity limits associated with the generators, including reactive capability curves of one or more generators, which provide relationships between the power factors of the generators, the real power produced by the generators and the reactive power produced by the generators. An alternative example of an economic dispatch program operates to allocate a load demand of a power grid to various power plants, wherein the load demand specifies the real power requirements as well as the reactive power requirements of the power grid, and wherein one or more power plants has reactive capacity limits exhibited by, for example, reactive capability curves.

FIG. 1 illustrates a power distribution system 10 having a power grid 12 connected to a load grid 14. The power grid 12 may transmit both real power, measured in megawatts (MWs) and reactive power, which is a product of the voltage and the out-of-phase component of an alternating current, and is measured in mega volt-amperes reactive (MVARs). The example load grid 14 of FIG. 1 may provide power to various industrial and residential customers who use power consuming devices, such as air conditioning units, electrical motors, lights, appliances, etc. In particular, the load grid 14 may provide real power to devices such as light bulbs, etc., and provide both real power and reactive power to devices such as electric motors, transformers, etc. As a result, it is necessary that the power grid 12 maintains a certain level of real power and reactive power available on the load grid 14 at all times.

As indicated in FIG. 1, the power grid 12 may also be connected to one or more utility grids 16, 18. In this example, the utility grid 16 is connected to a second power grid 20, and the utility grid 18 is illustrated as being formed of one or more power plants 22-26, which may include any of various types of power plants, such as nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants, thermal power plants, etc. Additionally, each of the power plants 22-26 may include any number of individual power generators. As discussed above, the operation of the utility grid 18 can be highly complex. As a result, to maintain the utility grid 18 running smoothly, it is necessary that each of the power plants 22-26 be managed with very high precision. Moreover, it is desirable that an operator of the utility grid 18 ensure that the utility grid 18 is able to maintain and provide real power and reactive power at all points throughout the utility grid 18 in a manner that minimizes the total cost of the utility grid 18. To accomplish such an optimal operation, the utility grid 18 may use an economic dispatch program, like the one described herein, which takes into consideration both the real power and the reactive power required on the utility grid 18, the power grid 12 or the load grid 14, to allocate required load demands between the power plants 22-26.

At the plant level, each of the plants 22-26 faces the challenge of operating one or more power generators so that each of the power plants 22-26 can meet its respective power demand with sufficient accuracy as well as at the least possible cost. In this context, an operator of any of the power plants 22-26 may use an economic dispatch program to allocate the required load demands between various power generators. In this manner, an economic dispatch program can be used at various levels within the power distribution system 10, such as at the utility grid level, at the plant level, at a generator level, etc. Irrespective of the level at which an economic dispatch program is used, this program allocates required load demands between various available resources in some optimal manner.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a power plant 100 that may use an economic dispatch module 102 to allocate a load demand 104 among various power generators 106-110. The load demand 104 may specify one or more of the amount of real power to be delivered by the power plant 100, the amount of reactive power to be delivered by the power plant 100, and time and place of the delivery of the real and/or the reactive power. The economic dispatch module 102 may use various information associated with the generators 106-110, such as the availability, the operating condition and the efficiency of each of the generators 106-110, in determining how to best allocate the load demand 104 among the generators 106-110. If desired, the economic dispatch module 102 may be implemented as software stored on a memory of a computer and operable on a controller of the computer, as hardware, as firmware or as any combination thereof.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of an example economic dispatch program 140 that may be implemented by the economic dispatch module 102. Generally speaking, the economic dispatch program 140 determines the allocation of the load demand 104 among various power generators 106-110 by solving an objective function, which may be provided to the economic dispatch program 140 by the administrator of the power plant 100 to determine an optimal operation point of the plant. To perform such an optimization, the economic dispatch program 140 receives various information about the power plant 100, such as parameters used to define the operation of the plant 100, values of some of these parameters, relationships between these parameters including reactive capability curves of the various generators used in the plant 100, and constraints on the operation of the power plant.

Specifically, a block 142 receives an objective function for the power plant 100, which is to be optimized using the economic dispatch program 140. An example of such an objective function may specify the total cost of producing a given amount of real power and a given amount of reactive power as a function of the amount of fuel necessary to generate the power. In an alternate implementation, the objective function may specify total emissions during production of a given amount of real power and a given amount of reactive power as a function of the amount of emissions per a unit of fuel used in generating the power. Of course, any other desired objective function may be used. The block 142 may receive the objective function in any desired manner, such as in the form of an entry in a spreadsheet stored on the economic dispatch module 102, as a series of selections on a graphical user interface (GUI) based menu presented to the administrator, etc.

Upon receiving the objective function, a block 144 identifies various parameters used to define the operation of the power plant 100. Typically, these parameters are specified or used in the objective function, and the values of one or more of these parameters are varied to find the optimal value of the objective function. Generally speaking, the economic dispatch program 140 treats some of these parameters as constants whose values cannot be altered by the economic dispatch program 140, some of these parameters as controllable or manipulated variables whose values may be controlled by the economic dispatch program 140, and some of these parameters as dependent variables whose values are to be determined by the economic dispatch program 140.

Generally speaking, the objective function of the plant 100 is given as an equation including one or more parameters of the plant 100, wherein values of some of these parameters may be obtained by solving one or more relationships specifying the operation of the plant 100 including relationships specified by the reactive capability curves of the various generators used in the plant 100. The economic dispatch program 140 may determine which parameters are to be treated as constants, as manipulated variables or as dependent variables based on the objective function received by the block 142. The economic dispatch program 140 may also make such determinations using other information about the power plant 100, such as a database file stored in the economic dispatch module 102 wherein the database file has various objects, with each object identifying different equipment within the power plant 100. For example, if the objective function specifies the total cost of operating the power plant 100, the economic dispatch program 140 may treat the cost of fuel, the cold gas generator temperatures, the cold gas generator pressures of the generators 106-110, etc., as constants. In this case, the economic dispatch program 140 may also treat the amount of real power and the amount of reactive power, as specified by the load demand 104, as constants when determining the optimal operating point for the power plant 100.

In an alternate example, if the objective function specifies the total emission of a pollutant gas by the power plant 100, the economic dispatch program 140 may treat the emission of NOx per unit fuel used by the power plant 100 as a constant and the cost of fuel as a controlled variable (value of which may vary based on the type and quality of fuel used). Moreover, even though a given implementation of the economic dispatch program 140 treats a particular parameter as a constant, an alternate implementation of the economic dispatch program 140 may treat that particular parameter as a manipulated variable or as a dependent variable.

Examples of various manipulated variables for the power plant 100 include the rates of fuel flows into the generators 106-110, the operating power factors of the generators 106-110, etc. Generally speaking, manipulated variables are those that can be changed or altered within the plant 100 to specify different operating points of the plant 100. A person of ordinary skill in the art will know that some of the variables treated as manipulated variables within a given implementation of the economic dispatch program 140 may be treated as dependent variables in an alternate implementation of the economic dispatch program 140, while some of the variables treated as dependent variables within a given implementation of the economic dispatch program 140 may be treated as manipulated variables in an alternate implementation of the economic dispatch program 140.

Upon determining which parameters are to be used to define the operation of the power plant 100, a block 146 receives values of the various constants. The economic dispatch program 140 receives values of some of the constants, such as the amount of real power and the amount of reactive power to be produced by the power plant 100, from the load demand 140. Generally, a user may provide values of some of the constants, such as cost of gas used by the generators 106-110, the heating value of the fuel, etc. In an alternate implementation, the economic dispatch module 102 may be communicatively connected to a power plant control system that supplies values for various constants such as the cost of fuel, the cost of NH₃, etc., to the economic dispatch program 140. The economic dispatch program 140 may also store the values of the various constants at a periodic rate, in response to an instruction from the user, or based on other predetermined criteria, into a memory of the economic dispatch module 102.

A block 148 determines relationships between the various parameters identified by the block 142, including relationships specified by the reactive capability curves of the generators 106-110. Such relationships may define values of various dependent variables as functions of one or more of the parameters. An example of such a mathematical relationship is a function that defines the value of the heat generated by the generator 106 as a function of the rate of fuel flow in the generator 106 and as a function of the heating value of the gas flowing through the generator 106. Yet another example of such a relationship is a reactive capability curve of the generator 108, which provides the value of reactive power generated by the generator 108 as a function of the cold gas temperature and as a function of the cold gas pressure of the generator 108. Of course, any other known or desirable relationship may be used instead of or in addition to the relationships enumerated herein.

The economic dispatch program 140 may receive the various relationships from a user in the form of a spreadsheet, from a database file stored on the economic dispatch module 102 wherein the database file has various objects, each object identifying an equipment within the power plant 100, etc, or in any other desired manner. Alternatively, a plant control system, which may be communicatively connected to the economic dispatch module 102, may provide one or more such relationships to the economic dispatch program 140. Furthermore, as shown at the block 148 of FIG. 3, the economic dispatch program 140 may update these relationships based on a periodic basis or based on any other predetermined criteria.

Next, a block 150 identifies various constraints on the operation of the power plant 100. An example of a constraint that may be used is that the total reactive power generated by all of the generators 106-110 must be equal to the amount of reactive power required to be produced by the power plant 100, as specified by the load demand 104. Another example of a constraint is that the fuel flow into each of the generators 106-110 cannot be less than zero. The economic dispatch program 140 may receive the various constraints from a user in the form of a spreadsheet, from a database file stored on the economic dispatch module 102 wherein the database file has various objects, each object identifying an equipment within the power plant 100, or in any other manner. Alternatively, a plant control system, which may be communicatively connected to the economic dispatch module 102, may specify one or more such constraints to the economic dispatch program 140

Subsequently, a block 152 determines an optimal solution for the operation of the power plant 100 by solving the various relationships to obtain an optimal solution of the objective function received by the block 142. In determining the optimal solution, the economic dispatch program 140 generally uses the values of the various parameters as identified by the block 144, the values of the constants as determined by the block 146, the relationships among the various parameters as defined by the block 148, the constraints as identified by the block 150. In particular, the economic dispatch program 140 varies the manipulated variables in some systematic manner to identify a set of dependent variable values which result into an optimal value for the objective function.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a program (generally known as solver) 160 that may be used to solve the objective function of the power plant 100 subject to the various constraints of the power plant 100. The example solver 160 determines the optimal solution for the objective function by using an iterative algorithm, generally known as the evolutionary algorithm, wherein a set of candidate solution points within the constraints are selected, a set of localized solutions corresponding to the set of candidate solution points is obtained and one of the set of localized solutions is selected as the optimal solution of the objective function.

Specifically, a block 162 identifies a set of candidate solution points for the objective function, wherein each of the candidate solution points is determined by a set of manipulated variables defining an operating point for the power plant 100. The block 162 may determine the set of candidate solution points by analyzing data regarding past operation of the power plant 100, by obtaining these solution points from a model or a user, etc. If desired, such data may be stored in a database located on the economic dispatch module 102.

A block 164 solves the objective function for one of the set of candidate solution points and stores an initial value of the objective function. During the solving process, the block 164 uses one or more of the relationships identified by the block 148 to determine values of the various dependent variables at the one of the set of candidate solution points. The block 164 then solves the objective function using these dependent variables, the constants and the manipulated variables defined by the selected set of candidate solution points, checks to determine if the values of the various dependent variables are within the constraints identified by the block 150, and, if not, limits these values to the constraints.

Subsequently, a block 166 changes values of one or more of the controlled variables based on some predetermined criteria and solves the objective function to determine an altered value of the objective function. The solver 160 may determine the direction and the amount of the change to be made to the controlled variables based on predetermined criteria which may be specified by the administrator of the power plant 100 or which may be determined randomly, pseudo-randomly, or in some predetermined or iterative manner.

A block 168 compares the initial value of the objective function and the altered value of the objective function to determine which value is more optimal, the direction in which the value of the objective function has changed and the amount by which the value of the objective function has changed. Based on the result of the comparison, the block 168 may determine whether the values of the manipulated variables are to be further altered or not, and if the values are to be further altered, in which direction and by how much. In this manner, the blocks 166 and 168 operate together to iteratively alter the values of the manipulated variables until the block 168 determines that the resulting value of the objective function is an optimal value of the objective function in the vicinity of the one of the set of candidate solution points, also known as a localized optimal solution.

Once the localized optimal solution is obtained, a block 170 stores the localized optimal solution as one of a set of localized optimal solutions for the objective function. Subsequently, a block 172 determines if there are any more candidate solution points in the set of candidate solution points for which localized optimal solutions are to be obtained. If so, the control is transferred back to the block 164 to find another localized optimal solution for the next of the set of candidate solution points. If the block 172 determines that a localized optimal solution for each of the set of candidate solution points has been found, it passes control to a block 174, which compares the values of the objective function at each of the set of localized optimal solutions and determines the most optimal solution for the objective function. The implementation of the solver 160 as described above ensures that even if the objective function of the power plant 100 has multiple localized optimal values, the most optimal of these localized optimal values is obtained.

The solver 160 may be implemented in the form of software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. For example, the solver 160 may be implemented using one of the various off-the-shelf mathematical solution programs, such as the Evolutionary Solver® program available from Frontline Systems, Inc.

While the above implementation of the economic dispatch program 140 is described in the context of the generic power plant 100, FIGS. 5-7 illustrate the functioning of the economic dispatch program 140 in the context of a thermal power plant 200. In particular, the power plant 200 illustrated in FIG. 5 is a thermal power plant designed as a combined cycle power plant (CCPP) that can also be operated as a simple cycle power plant. As indicated in FIG. 5, a typical CCPP may have several combustion turbo-generators (CTGs) 202 and 204, each with a corresponding heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) 206 and 208 and a common steam turbo-generator (STG) 210. The CTGs 202 and 204, which receive fuels such as natural gas, along with compressed air into their combustion sections have two primary functions. Firstly, the CTGs 202 and 204 produce electrical power through hydrogen cooled generators 212 and 214, which are directly connected to the CTGs 202 and 204. Secondly, the CTGs 202 and 204 supply hot gases to the HRSGs 206 and 208. The electrical power generated by the generators 212 and 214 is uploaded to the plant power grid 216, which may be ultimately connected to the utility grid 18 of FIG. 1. The plant power grid 216 may also be connected to an auxiliary power grid 218, where the auxiliary power grid 218 provides real power and/or reactive power to the plant power grid 216 according to the total power needed to be placed on the plant power grid 216.

Operating the plant 200 in the CCPP mode, in which the HRSGs 206 and 208 are used along with the CTGs 202 and 204, is economically efficient due to the HRSGs 206 and 208 capturing and using the exhaust energy of the CTGs 202 and 204 for additional power generation. However, it is also possible to operate the CTGs 202 and 204 without the HRSGs 206 and 208, which is known as a simple cycle mode operation but which is less efficient than the CCPP mode. Of course, whether the plant 200 is operated in the CCPP mode or in the simple cycle mode, the HRSGs 206 and 208 run only when the CTGs 202 and 204 are used.

The HRSGs 206 and 208, which form a link between the CTGs 202 and 204 and the STG 210, receive a supply of hot gases from the CTGs 202 and 204 as well as a fuel such as natural gas from a fuel source (not shown). The HRSGs 206 and 208 use the hot gases and the fuel to generate steam for the STG 210 and, as illustrated in FIG. 5, provide the steam to the STG 210 at three different pressure levels, namely a low pressure (LP) level, an intermediate pressure (IP) level and a high pressure (HP) level. Using the pressurized steam, the STG 210 produces electric power through a hydrogen cooled generator 220, wherein the electric power generated by the generator 220 is uploaded to the plant power grid 216.

When a power plant operates in the CCPP mode, in which the HRSGs 206 and 208 are placed downstream from CTGs 202 and 204, duct burners 222 and 224 are typically placed in the inlet paths of the HRSGs 206 and 208. The duct burners 222 and 224 are only used when the power plant 200 cannot satisfy the total power demand running only the CTGs 202 and 204, which typically occurs on hot days when the maximum power that can be generated by the CTGs 202 and 204 is limited. When the duct burners 222 and 224 are used, the additional gas burned in the duct burners 222 and 224 causes the amount of steam produced by the HRSGs 206 and 208 to increase, thus making more steam available for use in the STG 210 and thereby increasing the power produced by the STG 210. Therefore, when determining the operating parameters of the plant 200 for the optimal production of power, it is desirable to take into consideration whether or not the duct burners 222 and 224 are to be used.

The power plant 200 can output a specified combination of real power and reactive power using a number of different combinations of the generators 202, 204 and 210 and the duct burners 222 and 224. Furthermore, each of the generators 202, 204 and 210 and the duct burners 222 and 224 has a variety of operational settings, so that a number of different combinations of operational settings can be used to satisfy a given load demand. As a result, determining an optimal combination of the operational settings of the various equipment used in the plant 200 can be a highly complex task. An application of the economic dispatch program 140 of FIG. 3 to determine the optimal operational settings for the various equipment used in the power plant 200, taking into account production of both real power and reactive power is described as follows.

The block 142 of FIG. 3 receives the objective function for the power plant 200. When the goal of the economic dispatch program 140 is to minimize the operating cost of running the power plant 200, the objective function of the power plant 200 can be provided as follows: Minimize (G1_HEAT*GAS_COST+G2_HEAT*GAS_COST+DB1_HEAT*GAS_COST+DB2_HEAT*GAS_COST)

Various parameters used in this objective function are explained below in Table 1. TABLE 1 CONSTANTS GAS_COST Cost of gas used as fuel in the power plant 200 HEAT_VAL Heating value of gas used as fuel in the power plant 200 MW_DMD Plant MW demand MVAR_DMD Plant MVAR demand G1_CIT CTG 1 compressor inlet temperature G2_CIT CTG 2 compressor inlet temperature G1_EXT CTG1 exhaust gas temperature G2_EXT CTG2 exhaust gas temperature G1_CGT CTG1 cold gas Generator temperature G2_CGT CTG2 cold gas Generator temperature G1_CGP CTG1 cold gas Generator pressure G2_CGP CTG2 cold gas Generator pressure STG_CGT STG cold gas Generator temperature STG_CGP STG cold gas Generator pressure MANIPULATED VARIABLES G1_FF CTG1 fuel flow G1_PF CTG1 power factor G2_FF CTG2 fuel flow G2_PF CTG2 power factor STG_PF STG power factor DB1_FF Duct Burner 1 fuel flow DB2_FF Duct Burner 2 fuel flow G1_ON Binary switch if set turn CTG1 ON; 0 —turn OFF G2_ON Binary switch if set turn CTG2 ON; 0 —turn OFF STG_ON Binary switch if set turn STG ON; 0 —turn OFF DB1_ON Binary switch if set turn DB1 ON; 0 —turn OFF DB2_ON Binary switch if set turn DB2 ON; 0 —turn OFF DEPENDENT VARIABLES G1_HEAT The heat into CTG1 from the fuel. G2_HEAT The heat into CTG2 from the fuel. DB1_HEAT The heat into HRSG1 from the Duct Burner fuel. DB2_HEAT The heat into HRSG2 from the Duct Burner fuel. HP1_STM Amount of High Pressure steam from HRSG1 HR1_STM Amount of Hot Reheat steam from HRSG1 LP1_STM Amount of Low Pressure steam from HRSG1 HP2_STM Amount of High Pressure steam from HRSG2 HR2_STM Amount of Hot Reheat steam from HRSG2 LP2_STM Amount of Low Pressure steam from HRSG2 STG_HP Amount of High Pressure steam entering the STG STG_HR Amount of Hot Reheat steam entering the STG STG_LP Amount of LP steam entering the STG G1_MW CTG1 MW amount G1_MVAR CTG1 MVAR amount G2_MW CTG2 MW amount G2_MVAR CTG2 MVAR amount STG_MW STG MW amount STG_MVAR STG MVAR amount AUX_MW Plant Auxiliary MW

The block 144 of FIG. 3 identifies various parameters of the power plant 200, which may be used in determining the optimal operational settings for the power plant 200. To perform this function, the block 144 of FIG. 3 may present a menu and/or use a graphical user interface (GUI) based program to receive input from the administrator of the plant 200.

Next, the block 146 of FIG. 3 determines the values of the various constants listed in the Table 1. The block 146 may obtain the values of one or more of these constants from a database stored on the economic dispatch module 102. Alternatively, to obtain the values of one or more of these constants, the block 146 may present a menu and/or use a graphical user interface (GUI) based program to receive input from the administrator of the plant 200. In yet another implementation, a plant control system, which may be communicatively connected to the power plant 200, may provide values of one or more of the various constants listed in Table 1.

Thereafter, the block 148 of FIG. 3 determines the relationships between the various parameters of the power plant 200. Examples of some of the relations between the various parameters of the power plant 200, which may be stored on the memory of the economic dispatch module 102, are listed below in Table 2 as equations 1-20. TABLE 2 1 G1_HEAT = (G1_FF*HEAT_VAL)/1000 2 G2_HEAT = (G2_FF*HEAT_VAL)/1000 3 DB1_HEAT = (DB1_FF*HEAT_VAL)/1000 4 DB2_HEAT = (DB2_FF*HEAT_VAL)/1000 5 HP1_STM = F (G1_HEAT, G1_EXT, DB1_HEAT) 6 HR1_STM = F (G1_HEAT, G1_EXT, DB1_HEAT) 7 LP1_STM = F (G1_HEAT, G1_EXT, DB1_HEAT) 8 HP2_STM = F (G2_HEAT, G2_EXT, DB2_HEAT) 9 HR2_STM = F (G2_HEAT, G2_EXT, DB2_HEAT) 10 LP2_STM = F (G2_HEAT, G2_EXT, DB2_HEAT) 11 STG_HP = HP1_STM + HP2_STM 12 STG_HR = HR1_STM + HR2_STM 13 STG_LP = LP1_STM + LP2_STM 14 G1_MW = F(G1_HEAT, G1_CIT, G1_CGT, G1_CGP, G1_PF) 15 G1_MVAR = F(G1_HEAT, G1_CIT, G1_CGT, G1_CGP, G1_PF) 16 G2_MW = F(G2_HEAT, G2_CIT, G2_CGT, G2_CGP, G2_PF) 17 G2_MVAR = F(G2_HEAT, G2_CIT, G2_CGT, G2_CGP, G2_PF) 18 STG_MW = F(STG_HP, STG_HR, STG_LP, STG_CGT, STG_CGP, STG_PF) 19 STG_MVAR = F(STG_HP, STG_HR, STG_LP, STG_CGT, STG_CGP, STG_PF) 20 AUX_MW = F(G1_MW + G2_MW + STG_MW)

While the equations 1-13 listed above enumerate linear relationships between the various parameters of the power plant 200, the equations 14-20 are non-linear functions, of which the equations 14-19 represent the reactive capability curves of one or more of the CTGs 202 and 204 and the STG 210. In one implementation, the equations 14-19 may capture the reactive capability curves of the CTGs 202 and 204 and the STG 210, and represent neural network models used to define values of the real power and the reactive power generated by the CTGs 202 and 204 and the STG 210 as a function of the parameters included within the brackets on the right hand side of these equations.

Specifically, the equations 15-17 of Table 2 represent the reactive capability curves of the CTGs 202 and 204, and are illustrated in FIG. 6 by an estimated reactive capability curve 350 that defines the limits imposed on the real power and the reactive power of a particular CTG at various power factors, generator temperatures, and generator pressures. In FIG. 6, the real power of the CTG is plotted as the abscissa and the reactive power of the CTG is plotted as the ordinate. The curve 350 depicts, for example, that for a cold gas temperature of 24° centigrade and a cold gas pressure of 30.00 PSIG, the optimal operating range of that particular CTG is limited to a region defined between the origin 352, an arc 354, a first line 356 corresponding to the power factor of 0.85 and a second line 358 corresponding to the power factor of −0.95. While the total power (MVA) produced by that particular CTG is the same at each point on any arc within this optimal operating range, where the center of such arc is the origin, such as the arc 354, for points outside the range, the MVA produced by that particular CTG starts to decline due to heat build-up within the CTG.

The equations 18-19 of Table 2 represent the reactive capability curves of the STG 210, and are illustrated in FIG. 7 by an estimated reactive capability curve 370 that defines the limits imposed on the real power and the reactive power of a particular STG at various power factors, generator temperatures, and generator pressures. In FIG. 7, the real power of the STG is plotted as the abscissa and the reactive power of the STG is plotted as the ordinate. The curve 370 depicts, for example, that for a cold gas temperature of 42° centigrade and a cold gas pressure of 45 PSIG, the optimal operating range of that particular STG is limited to a region defined between the origin 372, an arc 374, a first line 376 corresponding to the power factor of 0.85 and a second line 378 corresponding to the power factor of −0.95. While the MVA produced by that particular STG is the same at each point on any arc within this optimal operating range, where the center of such arc is the origin, such as the arc 374, for points outside the range, the MVA produced by the STG starts to decline due to heat build-up within that particular STG.

Generally, the estimated reactive capability curves for generators such as the CTGs 202 and 204 and the STG 210 are provided by the manufacturer of these generators. As the reactive capability curves of the generators 202, 204 and 210 provide operating ranges of these generators, if the values of the generator gas temperature and gas pressures in these generators are available, the reactive capability curves of these generators can be used by the economic dispatch program 140 in determining one or more operating points for the power plant 200. However, in practice, the reactive capability curves of any generators are not steady, and they change over time with use of the generators.

In these circumstances, to obtain the optimal value of the objective function of the power plant 200, the economic dispatch program 140 may approximate the functions describing the actual reactive capability curves for the power plant 200 (e.g., functions 14-19 of Table 2). The economic dispatch program 140 may use techniques, such as neural networks, curve fitting with interpolation, etc. for approximating these functions. An implementation of the neural network approximation technique employed by the economic dispatch program 140 may involve operating the generators 202, 204 and 210 at various points of gas pressure and gas temperatures and recording various actual observations of the real power and reactive power of these generators (also known as training the neural network). Subsequently, the trained neural network may be substituted for the functions 14-19 and used in obtaining the optimal value of the objective function of the power plant 200. The economic dispatch program 140 may continuously or periodically update the neural network based on real time data provided by a control system of the power plant 200 and use the updated neural network in obtaining the optimal value of the objective function of the power plant 200.

Once the economic dispatch program 140 has determined various relationships for the power plant 200, the block 150 of FIG. 3 identifies the constraints applicable to the power plant 200, an example of which are listed below in Table 3. TABLE 3 CONSTRAINTS G1_MW + G2_MW + STG_MW − AUX_MW = MW_DMD G1_MVAR + G2_MVAR + STG_MVAR = MVAR_DMD G1_FF >= 0 G1_FF <= F(G1_CIT) G2_FF >= 0 G2_FF <= F(G2_CIT) G1_PF >= 0 G1_PF <= 1 G2_PF >= 0 G2_PF <= 1 STG_PF >= 0 STG_PF <= 1 DB1_FF >= 0

Having determined the objective function of the power plant 200, the various relationships between the parameters of the power plant 200, and the constraints of the power plant 200, the block 152 determines one or more optimal operational solutions for the power plant 200 using the solver 160 of FIG. 4.

One of the advantages of using the reactive capability curves, such as the capability curves 350 and 370, or some model that approximates these curves, for determining an optimal operational solution for the power plant 200 is that these curves allow incorporating the limits imposed on the real power and the reactive power generated by each of the generators 202, 204 and 210. In this manner, the economic dispatch program 140 can use the values of the real power and the reactive power as defined by the load demand on the plant grid 216 and determine the optimal operating point for each of the generators 202, 204 and 210.

Of course, while the application of the economic dispatch program 140 to the power plant 200 minimizes the cost of operating the power plant 200, in an alternate situation, the economic dispatch program 140 can be applied to the power plant 200 to meet an alternate objective, which may be for example, the minimization of NOx emissions, or some optimal combination of the two. In an alternative implementation, the economic dispatch program 140 may be applied to the entire utility grid 18 to allocate the total demand of the utility grid 18 among the power plants 22-26 so that the total cost of the operating the utility grid 18 is minimized. In yet another alternate implementation, the economic dispatch program 140 may be applied to the entire power grid 12 to allocate the total demand of the power grid 12 among the utility grids 16, 18, etc., so that the total cost of operating the power grid 12 is minimized.

Although the forgoing text sets forth a detailed description of numerous different embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that the scope of the invention is defined by the words of the claims set forth at the end of this patent. The detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment of the invention because describing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented, using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims defining the invention.

Thus, many modifications and variations may be made in the techniques and structures described and illustrated herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that the methods and apparatus described herein are illustrative only and are not limiting upon the scope of the invention. 

1-19. (canceled)
 20. A method of operating a power plant having a plurality of power generators, the method comprising: receiving a load demand specifying (1) real power to be produced by the power plant and (2) reactive power to be produced by the power plant; determining an objective function of the power plant specifying an operating condition of the power plant as a function of (1) the real power to be produced by the power plant and (2) reactive power to be produced by the power plant; and determining an optimal value of the objective function.
 21. A method of claim 20, wherein determining the optimal value of the objective function includes ascertaining that the power plant is operated in an optimal space of a reactive capability curve of at least one of the plurality of power generators.
 22. A method of claim 21, further comprising approximating the reactive capability curve using one of (1) a curve fitting technique and (2) a neural network.
 23. A method of claim 22, further comprising updating the reactive capability curve based on one of (1) a periodic basis and (2) a predetermined criteria.
 24. A method of claim 20, wherein determining the optimal value of the objective function comprises solving a plurality of relationships between a plurality of parameters of the power plant.
 25. A method of claim 24, further comprising using an evolutionary solver for solving the plurality of relationships between the plurality of parameters of the power plant.
 26. A method of claim 20, wherein the objective function specifies the cost of generating (1) the real power to be produced by the power plant and (2) reactive power to be produced by the power plant.
 27. A method of claim 20, wherein the objective function specifies an emission of a first pollutant during an operation of the power plant.
 28. A method of claim 20, wherein the operating condition of the power plant is one of (1) a cost and (2) an emission of a first pollutant. 29-41. (canceled) 